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Hello, I'm a writer and am moving to New Hampshire early sometime next year (March/April I'd guess) and have settled on Dover (possibly Portsmouth but Dover is far more likely due to how expensive Portsmouth is). I'm really looking forward to moving to your lovely state (I love snow and freedom, I think I'll do well there ).
But right now I really need to get a handle on precisely what it will cost me to heat/cool a 1000-1500 sqft residence. I'll be buying a condo or townhouse. It's just for one person. I understand that heating costs are closely tied to the cost of petroleum, which is very low right now (crude is under $50/barrel), so heating should be relatively inexpensive, right (compared to 5 or 10 years ago, I mean)?
Based on what I've read so far, I'm looking at an annual average of $100-150/month, is that right? Winter is expensive at $200+/month but summer makes up for it because you only have to run the AC like 2 weeks out of the year so summer utilities bills should be under $50/month, yes?
How much am I looking at paying? In the winter? Summer? On average over the whole year?
Thank you ahead of time for any help you all can offer.
But right now I really need to get a handle on precisely what it will cost me to heat/cool a 1000-1500 sqft residence. I'll be buying a condo or townhouse. It's just for one person. I understand that heating costs are closely tied to the cost of petroleum, which is very low right now (crude is under $50/barrel), so heating should be relatively inexpensive, right (compared to 5 or 10 years ago, I mean)?
Heating costs vary wildly depending on the fuel used.
Look for a condo in Dover hooked up to piped-in Natural Gas. Oil costs more than NG, propane heat even more. Don't even look at anyplace where the type of heat is described as "electric" unless it's in close proximity to the phrase "geothermal heat pump".
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Based on what I've read so far, I'm looking at an annual average of $100-150/month, is that right? Winter is expensive at $200+/month but summer makes up for it because you only have to run the AC like 2 weeks out of the year so summer utilities bills should be under $50/month, yes?
For a small house, my old budget assumed an average total utility cost of about double that -- $200-$300/month.
Unless you are consistently out of the house from dawn to dusk 7 days a week, I suspect you're underestimating the need for AC. My town has a similar (slightly cooler) climate to Dover, I use the AC at least a little each day for July and August, sometimes more for humidity control than because it's actually hot.
Here's a rough idea of how my residential usage has varied from month-to-month over recent years. I have all electric appliances (stove, oven, clothes dryer):
Our total delivered price per kWh is quite high in New Hampshire; my bill averages 19.7¢/kWh.
Heating costs vary wildly depending on the fuel used.
Look for a condo in Dover hooked up to piped-in Natural Gas. Oil costs more than NG, propane heat even more. Don't even look at anyplace where the type of heat is described as "electric" unless it's in close proximity to the phrase "geothermal heat pump".
For a small house, my old budget assumed an average total utility cost of about double that -- $200-$300/month.
Unless you are consistently out of the house from dawn to dusk 7 days a week, I suspect you're underestimating the need for AC. My town has a similar (slightly cooler) climate to Dover, I use the AC at least a little each day for July and August, sometimes more for humidity control than because it's actually hot.
Here's a rough idea of how my residential usage has varied from month-to-month over recent years. I have all electric appliances (stove, oven, clothes dryer):
Our total delivered price per kWh is quite high in New Hampshire; my bill averages 19.7¢/kWh.
Ok, thank you very much. You said "small house", about how many sq ft?
And the of the places I've looked at so far, all have said they offer natural gas heating, so let's presume that's the case. What does natural gas cost to heat with? Is there any way I can look this up, like a calculator where you put in a zip code and square footage and it spits out an estimate? Again, probably around 1000-1300 sq ft is what I'm guesstimating right now.
Find a place you like, ask them if you can see historical heating bills.
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Originally Posted by AndrewTracey
What does natural gas cost to heat with? Is there any way I can look this up, like a calculator where you put in a zip code and square footage and it spits out an estimate? Again, probably around 1000-1300 sq ft is what I'm guesstimating right now.
Heating costs have many variables, including building type, age, etc. In a multi-unit building, heating cost also varies on where you are in the building -- both what direction the unit faces, and how it fits into the structure. My apartment in Rhode Island faced an interior courtyard and was not the highest floor; my NG bill was well under fifty bucks even in the dead of winter.
With so many variables, I wouldn't rely on the output of a zip-code based web tool or even anecdotal evidence.
Heating costs have many variables, including building type, age, etc. In a multi-unit building, heating cost also varies on where you are in the building -- both what direction the unit faces, and how it fits into the structure. My apartment in Rhode Island faced an interior courtyard and was not the highest floor; my NG bill was well under fifty bucks even in the dead of winter.
With so many variables, I wouldn't rely on the output of a zip-code based web tool or even anecdotal evidence.
Thank you, again, this is very helpful. So what I really need to do here, honestly, is contact a realtor and have them pull the previous 12 month's bills for specific properties I'm interested in? I've actually already had one PM me on here about doing that and I'm probably going to take him up on it.
We're in a 1,400 sq/ft 3-story condo in Dover currently. City water and sewer, natural gas for heating occupied by two adults.
Water is roughly $100 every quarter (I think...I don't do the bills lol) on average being on a conservative side (we mostly take showers) and baths on a rare occasion.
Electricity is around $100-$130/month average throughout the year. It's been a warm spring and hot summer so our A/C did bump the electric a bit but not terrible. Our bulbs are mostly LED's and don't have a tons of things powered at any given time.
Unless you like to keep your house at 65°F all year round I doubt you'll break $200/month consistently. We've had at least two window A/C units going (our condo even though new allows it) full time and it's never gone above $150/month during July/August.
As far as heating, obviously if you live anywhere with access to natural gas then your heating bill will be negligible. During summer our heating bill is around $30/month with the natural gas. We keep our heat around 71-72°F and not much higher.
I will say the temperature difference in a condo between the first to top floor for obvious reasons is drastically different. Our condo is newer but even when it's cooler out, the top floor bedrooms with the windows open tend to be warmer. Not a bad thing for winter of course. It hasn't been terrible honestly. But summer time I tend to be downstairs more to keep cool.
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Now I've lived in an older house (since there's a lot in New England) and I've had heating bill easily going above $300/month. With the A/C and of course the age of the house, electric has gone up to $400/month at times but that's on the worst case scenario but due to the age of the house (foundation is from 1799) and lack of proper insulation there was a lot of energy wasted.
Electricity in NH is ranked among the top 5 highest for cost so it will be about the same everywhere you go.
I'll miss Dover as we'll be moving up north but I've grown to love this city Lots have changed since living here.
We're in a 1,400 sq/ft 3-story condo in Dover currently. City water and sewer, natural gas for heating occupied by two adults.
Water is roughly $100 every quarter (I think...I don't do the bills lol) on average being on a conservative side (we mostly take showers) and baths on a rare occasion.
Electricity is around $100-$130/month average throughout the year. It's been a warm spring and hot summer so our A/C did bump the electric a bit but not terrible. Our bulbs are mostly LED's and don't have a tons of things powered at any given time.
Unless you like to keep your house at 65°F all year round I doubt you'll break $200/month consistently. We've had at least two window A/C units going (our condo even though new allows it) full time and it's never gone above $150/month during July/August.
As far as heating, obviously if you live anywhere with access to natural gas then your heating bill will be negligible. During summer our heating bill is around $30/month with the natural gas. We keep our heat around 71-72°F and not much higher.
I will say the temperature difference in a condo between the first to top floor for obvious reasons is drastically different. Our condo is newer but even when it's cooler out, the top floor bedrooms with the windows open tend to be warmer. Not a bad thing for winter of course. It hasn't been terrible honestly. But summer time I tend to be downstairs more to keep cool.
***
Now I've lived in an older house (since there's a lot in New England) and I've had heating bill easily going above $300/month. With the A/C and of course the age of the house, electric has gone up to $400/month at times but that's on the worst case scenario but due to the age of the house (foundation is from 1799) and lack of proper insulation there was a lot of energy wasted.
Electricity in NH is ranked among the top 5 highest for cost so it will be about the same everywhere you go.
I'll miss Dover as we'll be moving up north but I've grown to love this city Lots have changed since living here.
Andrew, I spoke too soon about the water bill. I asked my g/f and she said we average $100-$120 per MONTH. Now this is with us taking showers average 4 times a day total (since I have my daughters half of the week). We are conservative as far as water usage but do a lot of laundry with top loader (HE front loader may bring the price down a bit).
We paid as high as $150/month only because we filled the pool with water couple times and had lots of baths for the girls during summer.
Andrew, I spoke too soon about the water bill. I asked my g/f and she said we average $100-$120 per MONTH. Now this is with us taking showers average 4 times a day total (since I have my daughters half of the week). We are conservative as far as water usage but do a lot of laundry with top loader (HE front loader may bring the price down a bit).
We paid as high as $150/month only because we filled the pool with water couple times and had lots of baths for the girls during summer.
Ok, thanks for clarifying. I don't think mine will be anywhere near that, though, as it'll just be me and I certainly won't have a pool.
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).
My Eversource bill averages 19.7¢ per kWh.
Find a place you like, ask them if you can see historical heating bills.
Lots have changed since living here.
